//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: To Live is to Love // by Lenora Goff //------------------------------// Out of all of the places that I could have fallen asleep, this was the worst. It might have been nice to fall asleep at Fluttershy’s, even if her demon-bunny Angel seemed to dislike me. At least she had a couch, and there was always the promise of being awoken in a gentle way. The way that I had been awoken was definitely not something I wanted to repeat. Rarity has a really shrill voice when she’s startled. “What ever are you doing in my house, darling?” I had barely opened my eyes before I was asked that question. The only thing I could do to respond was to first remember where I was. That meant I had to look around. I could have sworn that I had left this place the night before, after finishing the whole thing with the dresses. “Huh. I have no idea.” About that time, it came back to me. “I guess I might have passed out trying to fly out the window.” I had to smirk, it was better than the alternative. That sort of thing didn’t happen to me, I didn’t tire out. “You’re not gonna tell any of our friends about this, are you?” “Tell them about what, darling?” If it hadn’t been for the wink, I probably would have started explaining exactly what it was that had happened the night before. Nopony needed to know that I had helped, and nopony needed to know that I had passed out from exhaustion. “Thanks, Rarity.” “Think nothing of it.” It was at that point when I saw a smirk from her. “So, since you’re here, what is this thing you needed my advice about? Is it about how to style your mane? I could give you some wonderful tips.” It always seemed to come to that. I liked the way my mane looked. Not only that, but it was practical. There was no way for me to go as fast as I did while worrying about the affect that it was going to have on some mane style. I wasn’t exactly going to be slowing down to make sure that nothing happened to one, either. “Actually, it’s about … this is going to take a while to explain.” “Then why all means, darling, you can start after a nice breakfast.” I started to move to object, but she was already in her kitchen. “And I won’t take no for an answer. If we don’t have breakfast, it will ruin the entire day. I can’t possibly let that happen.” I wasn’t going to get out of it. By the end of it, I was glad that I didn’t. I’m normally not one for breakfast. It isn’t that I don’t like eating, but I normally wake up around ten and get straight to work. Maybe I get a donut from Sugarcube Corner, but not even that all the time. It really depends on how I’m feeling that day. Orange juice, toast, eggs, they all tasted so good. “That was awesome, Rares. Maybe I’ll have to come by more often.” “That would mean you would have to wake up before noon, darling.” The chuckle told me that she was trying to make a joke, and so I chuckled back. She probably didn’t mean it, or at least I was hoping that she didn’t actually think that I slept past noon. That was what napping was for, right after lunch. “So, Rainbow, what is this big problem that you needed solved. I have the whole day, thanks to your lovely assistance.” “Alright.” I took a breath, just to notice that she was moving to start cleaning up. “Errr … would you like some help with that?” “No thank you, I can get this done really quickly. Please, you’re my guest, I’m doing this to help you with a problem.” Sometimes, arguing with Rarity was a wasted effort. I could already tell that this was going to be one of those times, and so I started to think about how to word it. “Well, it really started at the Gala. I went there, and everything had been so cool. I had just saved this pie from falling on the ground, it was Soarin’s pie, and I got invited to spend some time with the Wonderbolts.” “I know all about that, darling. We all had a rather … ghastly time at the Gala.” It was strange, she seemed to want to glance over it. I really couldn’t think of why she would interrupt like that, but I decided to continue. “There was something more, something that I hadn’t told any of you girls.” I sighed, then looked up at the ceiling. “Do you know that I’ve never been on a date before in my life?” I saw her move to answer that, so I quickly added. “That was a radical question.” “Rhetorical, you mean?” “Sure, that too.” I had to chuckle, that sort of word was one that I had only heard a few times. It had obviously been what I meant. “The answer is zero. It’s not like I haven’t been looking, either. It seems like nopony sees me as anything other than the daredevil Rainbow Dash … which is cool and all.” That didn’t explain what I hadn’t told them. “So I went to the Gala, and I thought it would be so cool to be able to spend the event with the Wonderbolts … and Soarin specifically.” I saw it, the look of realization. “I thought I knew everything about him. His top speed, his favorite food, his goals and dreams, how he likes to spend his free time.” Rarity was looking at me with a look of confusion, so I knew I had to explain. “Magazine articles with interviews, they ask some of the weirdest questions. But, yeah, I thought I knew who he was and that was who I was going to spend my time with. I figured that he would be able to see through what I do.” “Well, everypony deserves that. It couldn’t have gone that bad.” “Don’t you remember what happened? They both ignored me. Spitfire was busy with … I’m not even sure what” I was getting a little frustrated, but it made sense to me. “And then there was Soarin. When I did get to talk to him, it was about how great the Wonderbolts were and how amazing he was. It was so great to be famous, that’s all he would talk about when I was actually able to get his attention.” “Is that not what you think too, darling?” “Well, yeah, but that’s not the point.” I could hear that my voice had an edge to it, and Rarity was startled. I took a deep breath, I was getting too angry at the wrong pony. Rarity was trying to help, she obviously just didn’t get it. “It’s just … I was there, dressed up, and all he could talk about was what he did and how great he was. That wasn’t the Soarin that I had read about, it wasn’t the Soarin that I was going to try to go to dinner with.” By this time, my voice had shrank. I looked down at the table, which was amazingly clean by my standards. I didn’t like thinking about that night, and talking about it didn’t seem like it was going to be much better. I had gotten mad at my friend, when she was just trying to figure out what was wrong. I couldn’t even blame being tired, the breakfast had woken me up more than I thought it would. “I’m sorry about getting … frustrated, Rares. It wasn’t your fault, it was mine.” “No, no, no. I will not have you talking about yourself like that, Rainbow.” I looked up, and she had this determined look on her face. What was she going to do? I was almost afraid to find out, but I was going to soon enough anyway. “I should have been able to figure out that something had gone wrong, and I will find a way to fix it.” Her eyes looked directly into mine, and her hoof moved to my shoulder. “Soarin may not have been the one for you, but there are plenty of ponies out there that would be lucky to have such a lovely mare as yourself.” Lovely wasn’t a term that I was used to being called, so naturally I blushed. Obviously, she took that as a good chance to try to lighten the mood. “Sadly, dear, it’s not going to be me. I know, I know, it’s going to be difficult to find somepony as fabulous as me … but we will.” I stared, confused for a moment. I knew somepony who did like her, a lot, but it quickly dawned on me that it was all a joke. One of my front hooves moved up to my forehead. “Oh, to be turned down by my one true love. This is. THE. WORST. POSSIBLE. THING.” I stuck my tongue out at her, and we both had a good laugh. “Thanks, Rares, I needed that.” “Don’t mention it.” At this point, the smile left. “No, seriously, don’t.” “Don’t worry about it, Rares, nopony will know.” “Good.” I could see the smile again, and mine returned with it. I hadn’t even realized that I hadn’t been smiling, but her expression was scarier than I thought it could be. This was Rarity, after all, she hardly seemed like the scary type. “I was serious about helping you find your special somepony, though. I wouldn’t be a good friend if I didn’t help you out when you came to me.” Something told me that this wasn't going to end well, but I couldn't really tell her no now. There was something that I was wondering, though. "How?" "Oh, don't worry about that darling. Just come back in two days, and you'll see." For some reason, I was even more worried than before.